Flora and fauna of Nayarit most representative species

1230
Robert Johnston

The flora and fauna of Nayarit It is represented by species such as the agave tequila, the cardenche, the guayabera amazon and the blue-patted gannet, among others. Nayarit is a state of Mexico, located to the west of that country.

Geographically it has a large extension of coastline, belonging to the Pacific Ocean, where the Marietas and Marías islands are included. From this coast, the Sierra Madre Occidental rises, thus dividing the land into narrow valleys. To the northeast there are extensive plains, irrigated by the Rio Grande de Santiago.

Cardenche. Source: Philmarin [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)] Amazonia guayabera. Source: Amazona_finschi_-perching_on_branch-8.jpg: Cédric Allier derivative work: Snowmanradio [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

The valley of this river has fertile lands, where corn, sugar cane, coffee and cotton are produced, among others. Fishing is also an important economic activity of the state.

Article index

  • 1 Flora of Nayarit
    • 1.1 Agave tequila (Agave tequilana)
    • 1.2 Cardenche (Cylindropuntia imbricata)
    • 1.3 Ponderoso pine (Pinus ponderosa)
  • 2 Fauna of Nayarit
    • 2.1 Durango scorpion (Centruroides suffusus)
    • 2.2 Guayabera Amazon (Amazona finschi)
    • 2.3 Blue-footed Alcatraz (Sula nebouxii)
  • 3 References

Flora of Nayarit

Agave tequila (Tequilana agave)

This plant belongs to the Agavoideae subfamily. It is native to the Mexican states of Jalisco, Nayarit, Colima and Aguascalientes. Agave tequila grows in sandy soils, more than 1500 meters high.

Tequilana agave constitutes an economic product of great importance in Mexico. The reason is that sugars are obtained from this plant, such as fructose. These are part of the basic ingredients for the preparation of tequila, a typical drink of the country.

This species, which is monocarpic, flowers only once, after which it dies. The flowering process begins when the plant is 6 to 12 years old. The floral axis, which can be 5 meters high, has numerous greenish or yellow flowers. Many of these fall without having been pollinated.

The plant forms a rosette of succulent, pointed and fleshy leaves, which could reach more than two meters in height..

Its growth is optimal in sandy, loamy and clay soils, preferring those that have good drainage. In addition, it could tolerate drought and land with nutritional deficiencies.

Cardenche (Cylindropuntia imbricata)

The cardenche is a cactus with an arboreal shape, which belongs to the Cactaceae family. It is native to Mexico and the United States.

As for the stem, it is cylindrical, green in color and covered with thorns. Its height is approximately three meters. In addition, it has branched portions, where long tubers with white spines stand out, approximately 25 millimeters in length..

The flowering of the cardón, as it is also known Cylindropuntia imbricata, occurs from spring to summer. The flowers are large and very showy, pink or red. The fruits are round and yellow.

This perennial plant grows in dry and arid soils, where they are directly exposed to the sun's rays. The cardenche is highly resistant to periods of drought.

Ponderoso pine (Pinus ponderosa)

This conifer is native to the United States. It is distributed from western North America to Mexico.

The American royal pine, as the Pinus ponderosa, It has an orange bark with black lines, which mark the grooves where the bark “breaks”. This characteristic differentiates it from the rest of the conifers.

Another striking aspect is the long and thin needles, which grow in groups of three, thus giving the branch a flake-like appearance. These are the favorite food of butterfly larvae Chionodes retiniella.

Pinus ponderosa It is a tree that can reach a height of up to 50 meters, although old species could reach 70 meters. The trunk is straight and the lower part lacks branches.

As for the cones, the male ones are located near the ends of the branches, forming small groups. The female ones are oval, measuring 8 to 15 centimeters in length. Flowering occurs between the months of April and June.

This species is timber, being used in construction. Thus, doors, stairs, floors and window frames are built, among others.

Fauna of Nayarit

Durango scorpion (Centruroides suffusus)

This scorpion is part of the Buthidae family. Its distribution includes the Mexican states of Durango, Sinaloa and Nayarit. The Durango scorpion is the second most poisonous in Mexico, after the Centruroides noxius.

As for the size of this species, it ranges between 5 and 7 centimeters in length. The body is ocher yellow, although occasionally it may be reddish brown.

In general, it has two dark longitudinal stripes on plates I - IV of the abdomen. The carapace that forms the cephalothorax has a dark spot in the anteocular area.

Males have an abdominal V segment that is longer than it is wide. In addition, they have 20 to 24 pectineal teeth, while the number of these structures in females ranges from 21 to 26.

This species is generalist, due to which it could be found under various surfaces where they feel protected, for example, on rocks and logs. They can also be found in some settlements inhabited by man.

Guayabera Amazon (Amazona finschi)

This bird, which belongs to the Psittacidae family, lives in various areas of the Mexican Pacific. Its habitat is the mountains and wooded hills, from the lowlands of the deciduous forests to the highlands of the oak forests.

It is an animal that measures 30.5 to 34.5 centimeters, with a medium-sized tail. As for the beak, it is opaque white and the legs are light gray. In the young, the iris is dark brown, while the adult has it red.

The plumage of the violet-crowned amazon, as this species is also known, is bright green. Some of the feathers on the back and scapulars have black borders.

On the secondary feathers it has an intense red patch. In relation to the crown, the nape and the sides of the neck the tone is gray-lilac. As for the wings, the ends of the primary and secondary feathers are intense blue-violet. The tail is green, with the tips in a yellowish green tone.

Blue-footed Alcatraz (Sula nebouxii)

This bird is part of the Sulidae family. It is native to the American Pacific, extending from the coasts of Peru to the Gulf of California. Also, it usually lives in the Galapagos Islands, where it shares with its close relative, the red-legged booby (Sula sula).

As an adult, this species is 81 to 90 centimeters tall and has a wingspan that ranges between 150 and 160 centimeters. Its weight can be around 3 or 4 kilograms, with the female being larger than the male. However, the difference may be small.

The distinction between the male and the female is usually made on the basis of the sounds they emit. Thus, the females croak and the males make a kind of whistle.

The camanay booby, as the Sula nebouxii, it has one of the longest tails of its kind. This helps the bird to dive quickly into the sea, in search of food.

Its diet is based on fish and marine invertebrate animals, which it hunts in the water. For this it could submerge up to 25 meters deep, at a speed of 110 km / h.

Coloration

Regarding the coloration, the head is light cinnamon brown, with white spots. On the back of the neck, where it joins the mantle, it has a white patch. The wings are long, pointed and brown.

The ventral area, including the lower part of the chest and the tips of the tail feathers, are white. It has a conical blue beak, with serrated edges, thus allowing it to hold on to its prey tightly..

The characteristic blue tone of its legs is due to the carotenoid pigments it ingests through its diet. These cannot be processed by the bird, thus accumulating the limbs.

The blue legs play a very important role in mating, since the male performs a kind of courtship dance, thus exhibiting them to the female..

References

  1. Encyclopedia britannica (2019). Nayarit, state Mexico. Recovered from britannica.com.
  2. (2019). Nayarit. Recovered from en.wikipedia.org.
  3. M, Bautista-Justo, López L, García, Corona, José E., Negrete LA, Parra. (2001). Weber tequilana agave and tequila production. Recovered from researchgate.net.
  4. Hernández, H.M., Cházaro, M., Gómez-Hinostrosa, C. (2017). Cylindropuntia imbricata (amended version of 2013 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017. Recovered from iucnredlist.org.
  5. Ortega Guzmán, Larissa. (2011). Abundance of the Lilac-crowned Parrot (Amazona finschi) and the Orange-fronted Parakeet (Aratinga canicularis) in a gradient of forest cover on the Michoacan Coast. Recovered from researchgate.net.

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